Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

"The bees came the summer of 1964, the summer I turned fourteen and my life went spinning off into a whole new orbit, and I mean whole new orbit. Looking back on it now, I want to say the bees were sent to me. I want to say they showed up like the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, setting events in motion I could never have guessed." So begins the story of Lily Melissa Owens, a plucky girl, rich in humor despite heart wrenching circumstances. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, her entire life has been shaped around one devastating, though blurred, memory- the afternoon her mother was killed. Four at the time, she remembers innocently picking up the gun. And, she has her father's eyewitness account of the gun firing. People remind her it was an accident, yet she's inhabited by a torturous guilt. Lily's only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother."

South Carolina in 1964 is a place and time of seething racial divides. When violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and uncommon daring, she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two of them take off, runaway-fugitives conjoined in an escape that quickly turns into Lily's quest for the truth about her mother's life.

Following a trail left ten years earlier, Lily and Rosaleen end up in the home of three bee-keeping sisters. No ordinary women, the sisters revere a Black Madonna and tend a unique brand of female spirituality that reaches back to the time of slavery. As Lily's life becomes deeply entwined with theirs, she is irrevocably altered. In a mesmerizing world of bees and honey, amid the strength and power of wise women, Lily journeys through painful secrets and shattering betrayals, finding her way to the single thing her heart longs for most.

Review

"In this gem of a first novel, Sue Monk Kidd creates a charmed Southern place, a bee farm in Tiburon, S.C., and its eccentric yet endearing inhabitants, the black Boatwright sisters (other wise known as the 'calendar girls' May, June, and August). The main character, Lily Owens, is a fourteen-year-old white runaway who finds safe haven with these nurturing honey producing women as she tries to escape a violent father and confused, haunting memories of her past. Lily encounters a world of strong women who embrace her and mother her back to life and a future of promise and hope. Rich in symbolism and feminine adaptations of devout religious practices, Kidd uses the bee metaphor to craft a captivating story of self-discovery, shared pains and joys. Acclaimed for such insightful nonfiction as When the Heart Waits, Kidd the novelist promises to be equally noteworthy." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)

Review

Review

"Sue Monk Kidd's eccentric, inventive, and ultimately forgiving novel is reminscent of the work of Reynolds Price in its ability to create a truly original Southern voice." Anita Shreve

Review

"A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love." Connie May Fowler

Synopsis

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sister, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

Synopsis

Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, a heartwarming coming of age tale set in 1960s South Carolina, a multi-million copy New York Times bestseller, now an award-winning film starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys

Fans of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help and Beth Hoffman’s Saving CeeCee Honeycutt will love Sue Monk Kidd’s Southern coming of age tale. The Secret Life of Bees was a New York Times bestseller for more than 125 weeks, a Good Morning America “Read This” Book Club pick and was made into an award-winning film starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.

When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's most vicious racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love—a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

About the Author

SUE MONK KIDD is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels, The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair, and the memoirs Traveling with Pomegranates, which she wrote with her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, When the Heart Waits, as well as Firstlight, a collection of her early writings. The Secret Life of Bees has spent more than 125 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted into an award-winning movie starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys. The Mermaid Chair, a #1 New York Times bestseller, was adapted into a television movie. Both of her novels have been translated into more than 24 languages. The recipient of numerous literary awards, Sue lives with her husband on an island off the coast of Florida.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating 4.6 (18 comments)

Beautiful book. This book brings you on an emotional journey. It brings tears to your eyes at one point and a smile on your face at another. Personally one of my favorite books I've ever read this year. The way Sue Monk Kidd plays with words is absolutely phenomenal. She sucks you into the life of the characters and leaves you speechless. By the end of the book you are emotionally drained. I would recommend this book to any one of my friends and family.

I resisted reading this story for a long time--estrogen and honey just aren't my normal flavors--but I'm very glad I relented. This was a over-too-soon lovely read that, much like honey, seeps into the cracks of your soul and sticks with you.
The story is set in South Carolina in the 1960’s, during the heat of the civil rights movement. It is a story of a young girl named Lily Owens who is tormented by the blurry memory of her mother’s accidental death at her hands. She lives with a father she dubbed, T. Ray, whose only claim to genius is inventing creative way to punish her, such as kneeling on grits piled on the floor for hours. Kneeling on grits!?
The bees are a character of their own accord. They appear in her room at night and disappear when she attempts to show her father. One assumes that his ambient malevolence drove them back into the safety of her walls. Eventually Lily captures one in a jar to prove it to him. Awash in guilty feelings, she tries to release it, but the bee spins and spins it the jar. She can’t understand why it won’t leave. Then in a crux moment where she must face her father’s impending wrath, she notices the bee is gone. She realizes that there’s no lid on her jar either. She bails out of her father’s house, breaks her nanny Rosaleen out of the hospital where she’s being treated before being sent back to jail, (Rosaleen was indicted for dumping her tobacco-spit from her jar on some white men’s shoes--they deserved it.) before fleeing to Tiburon, South Carolina. Which is a name Lily found written on the back of a block of wood, sporting the a label for Black Madonna Honey, she found among her mother’s things.
This scrap of her mother’s belongings brings Lily and Rosaleen to the home of three benevelovent black women who are, yep-you guessed it, beekeepers. Here Lily learns to send love to the bees, reconcile her past, collect honey, learn to trust, make beeswax candles, belong to something bigger than herself, cool bees on hot days, the truth of her mother’s story, cook honey, even understand her father, and finally finds the home she craved.
This is a heartfelt story that also has teeth. It challenges our perceptions and changes our lives in a honey flavored way.

Set during the civil rights era, The Secret Life of Bees is a coming-of-age story about a young girl as she stuggles to make sense of her past, her present and the changing world around her. Though racial issues form a backdrop to the story and do trigger some events, this is not the main theme of this novel. Rather this book is about journeys - physical journeys, emotional journeys and the journey of understanding that happens to us all as we grow up. I highly recommend this book for adults and young adults alike.

This is a book I find myself returning to time and time again to warm my heart and feed my spirit. The book describes the secret life of bees in rich and mesmerizing detail, but also is about the secret life of women, and the female kinship which transcends ethnicity and age. From the first time I read it I felt myself with old friends, as did my real-life friends, and I strongly believe there is a little of Lily, August, June, and May in each of us.

Lily Owens' mother died when she was four and she has been raised by a violent father and their hired help; mostly Rosaleen, a strong-willed black woman who is determined not to let the racists in their town stop her from doing what she has a right to. This attitude leads her to fight back against the town's 3 deepest racists, and she ends up badly beaten and in jail. Lily decides she's had enough, springs Rosaleen, and they set off to a town whose name is written on one of the few belongings Lily has of her mother's. They are taken in by three beekeeping sisters and Lily learns not just about beekeeping, but about what it means to have a family.
I devoured this book in a couple hours. Once I started I just couldn't put it down, the characters had such a hold on me. They seemed so real and fleshed-out, like people who actually might exist. The writing was graceful and unobtrusive, a smooth flow of words that conveyed information clearly without being wordy.

The Secret Life of Bees is a delightful book. It touches upon so many aspects of human life. I became mermerized by Sue Monk Kidd's characters. They become special to us just like the bees. As we unravel the intricate layers of all of their lives, we discover how much sweeetness each one adds to this story and what a wonderful colony of unity and perserverance exists in their world of Tiburon,South Carolina.

This was my favorite book of the decade. It was very freeing. The characters were comfortable breaking rules of conventional society and religion. Yet all they did was in the name of truth and goodness.

I eagerly awaited Sue Monk Kidd's first novel after embracing feminism and was not disappointed. She captures beautifully the issues of women and community, of a young girl's search for family as well as civil rights.

An extraordinary novel concerning female love & power. I related to Lily, the little girl who was so mistreated but found the truth about her past
that had dogged her young life. Written with humor,wit and wisdom I found it very uplifting!

I couldn't put this book down as the story unraveled revealing what had happened to the young girl who went on quest to find out about her mother and why she was left behind with her abusive and unhappy father. With a picture of a black madonna on a honey label she finds the home of 3 African American sisters who run a honey business and thrives on their acceptance as she slowly figures out she was responsible for accidentally killing her mother. Within this home she finds love and strength as she discovers that her mother truly loved her and had not left her as her father had told her. This story hit me on several levels of family relationships and dealing with young children after a tragic accident.

The Secret Life of Bees
Lily is a fourteen year old girl who runs away from her abusive father with her nanny of sorts (after busting her out of jail) to Tiburon, South Carolina in hopes of finding out the truth behind her mother, who was killed when she was little. She finds August, May, and June Boatwright, three beekeeping sisters who Lily hopes may know something about her mother.
This was definitely not one of my favorite books. It’s not that it’s a terrible book; it just wasn’t really my type of book. It had all of the basic components needed for a good book: a plot with an introduction, conflict, a climax, and a resolution, it had realistic, believable characters, an appropriate setting, good use of figurative language, etc. I just didn’t really enjoy the book. I was hoping for a twist at the end to hopefully change my mind on my opinion, but there was none. I also had a hard time getting a “life lesson” out of it. The best I could come up with is that “if you don’t take a chance to find something out, you’re going spend the rest of your life wondering” It is a good, motivating message (if that is even the message the author was trying to send)
All in all, while I would not recommend the book to all of my friends, I wouldn’t be going around telling everybody not to read the book. It might be a great book to some people; I just couldn’t really get into it. I don’t know whether it was the sort of depressing theme of just that I couldn’t really relate to the characters much, but I just did not like the book much.

This book was excellent and the Author gave great detail.
I had a hard time putting this book down most of the time. Great history involved in this story, which was enjoyable. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I truely enjoyed the book and after reading it I couldn"t read another for some time. It was a very personal book for me because I was looking for my birth mother at the time ( I was 55 at the time and I was adopted from Germany and came to the US when I was 2) and I could truely identify with the main character.
Recently i read that they were makin a movie of this book and when I read the cast members I was disappointed. When I read i get very visual and I did not picture Queen Latifah etc. Sounds like they wanted star power. It will be very interesting to see how the movie will play out.

A half credible tale weaves throughout the south during the turbulent times of racial enlightenment in the 60's. Told from the perspective of the young lady who runs away from a secret in her past, racism, and a neglectful and emotionally abusive father, the story is sometimes very disjointed and confused. As you travel along on the adventure of the young lady and her black "nanny", you will bounce over the issues of racism, womens' rights, religion, and coming of age. At the end of the journey, you will be able to tie all of the pieces together and at least understand the logic that exists in her life, sharing the revelations of maturity, both physical and social, of a young girl in the 60's.

Wow! What a pleasant surprise. This book was recommended to me by my mother, a bookseller, who usually is "spot on" with her recommendations. This one was no exception. I have to admit that the title and synopsis didn't appeal to me much at first but by the 2nd page I was hooked! This is a book you won't soon forget.

The Secret Life of Bees is an uplifting, empowering book about a young girl named Lily and her quest to find what happened to her late mother, Deborah. She lives in South Carolina with her abusive father, T-Ray, and her housekeeper, Rosaleen. When Rosaleen insults three of the town’s worst racists, they get thrown in jail, and Lily decides to break them out. The two make their way to Tiburon, South Carolina, in hopes of finding out more about Deborah, and are taken in by three, black, bee-keeping sisters, named August, June, and May. Lily and Rosaleen immediately become a part of the family, and have some crazy adventures along the way. Lily’s world is turned upside-down as she is introduced to a sisterhood, unconventional religion, and a secret life of bees she could have never imagined before.
Some strengths in this book were its’ detail and vivid descriptions. Sue Monk Kid is very good at describing locations, people, thoughts, and events. I think the author’s message was one of black and women empowerment, and it is a valuable book for people to read. One important idea I learned from reading this is that with some friends, family, and a jar of honey, almost anything is possible.
The last line of this book is “And there they were. All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me.” This quote shows that even if you have lost a parent, or any loved one, you can still find someone, somewhere, to love and cherish you.